The Stinkin' Visitor

The Stinkin' Visitor
By John Woodward
May 10, 1999

It was 5 AM last Friday morning when, out of a sound sleep, I got punched in the nose. Well, actually the impact did not come from a fist; it came from a powerful odor. It was the unmistakable smell of a SKUNK and it was coming from INSIDE the house! I got up to investigate and found our dog, Honey, sitting outside our bedroom door, having been sprayed by a skunk. I walked to the kitchen to see what the visitor had done. Trash from the toppled garbage bag was scattered across the kitchen floor. After cleaning up, I assessed the situation. I learned that the last one to bed did not lock the "doggie door" because they thought that a cat was still outside. (Believe it our not, our daughter has two black cats these days.) Evidently, Honey had heard the commotion in the kitchen and confronted the visitor. However, this black cat had a distinctive white stripe down its back. The visitor responded by spraying its arsenal at Honey and thus filled our upper floor with the rotten smell.[1]

Not realizing the potency of the odor, our other daughter went to the hospital for her shift as a nurse and I dropped off the twins at school. Before returning home with a carpet cleaning machine and various cleaning and deodorizing products, all three Woodwards were sent home due to their unmistakable, arresting fragrance. So, Friday became an all-hands-on-deck cleaning day. After extensive cleaning, airing, and using an electronic air cleaner, the house is now virtually free of the skunk's effects. Whew!

My only consolation is the use of this story to make readers thankful that this hasn't happened to them AND to introduce this article's theme. The smelly topic is the issue of the sinful flesh which trips us up as disciples of Christ. To use Martha's words (from the KJV), it "stinketh."

Let's take a closer look at this issue. What is the believer's enemy--the flesh? "Flesh" denotes that aspect of the believer's soul which consists of the residual beliefs, memories, responses, habit patterns, and coping mechanisms which have been acquired in this fallen world. It consists in the "programming" in the mind, will, and emotions which results from our attempts to get our ultimate needs met apart from Christ. Flesh patterns are based upon our strategies of living independently of God.[2]

Before salvation we were "in the flesh" because, "That which is born of flesh is flesh" (John 3:6a). After being regenerated by the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ, however, our position changed to that of being "in the Spirit." "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:6b). Now the believer is called upon to put off the attitudes and actions which derive from the old flesh patterns, i.e., to not walk according to the flesh or slip into a carnal condition (1 Cor. 3:1-3).

The apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 5:19-21: "Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like..." This is a depressing list indeed.

One might think that the way to victory over such behavior is through rigorous introspection. However, experience and Scripture warn that such efforts tend to make matters worse. Charles Solomon comments, "Many Christians, and those fitting the description of neurotic behavior, almost without exception spend much time in looking inward ... The result? The more they look inward, the more miserable they become, in spite of the fact that they may view their self-searching and self condemnation as proof of their sincerity, or as a kind of punishment by which they get even with themselves ... At best, our searching can only turn up garbage, and sorting garbage is a most depressing avocation. Too, if we could ever complete the interminable task, we would wind up with neatly sorted piles of garbage, but still blind to the source of all garbage--self."[3]

The One who should do the searching of our soul is the Holy Spirit. As the Psalmist said, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting"(Psalm 139:23,24). When He convicts us of sin, He also points us to the fountain of cleansing (1 John 1:9). This contrasts the devil's strategy. When Satan accuses us, he uses true or artificial guilt to attack our sense of fellowship with God, attempting to turn us away from Christ our Advocate (1 John 2:1,2; Rev. 12:11).

In overcoming the flesh, it is important to gain precise understanding of what part of us was crucified (the "old man" is now out of the picture), and what part of us still remains as a present obstacle to spiritual growth. Watchman Nee commented on the latter: "Let us note carefully that though the flesh may be so put to death that it becomes 'ineffective' (the real meaning of 'destroy' in Rom. 6:6), it endures nonetheless ... Regenerated life does not alter the flesh; co-crucifixion does not extinguish the flesh; the indwelling Holy Spirit does not render it impossible to walk by the flesh. The flesh abides permanently in the believer. Whenever the opportunity is provided for its operation, it will at once spring into action."[4]

Satan uses the flesh to tempt us to doubt our salvation, or disbelieve the provision for abundant living which Christ has made for us. We confess that our flesh remains selfish, proud, and independent, no matter how far the believer progresses in spiritual maturity this side of glory. As Paul testified, "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good [when I try to live under the Law] I do not find" (Rom. 7:18).

So how can you overcome the negative influence of the flesh? Here are some essentials:

1. Look unto Jesus, not yourself. He is your source of Life. (Heb. 12:1,2; Col. 3:4)

2. Reckon your "old man" [who you were in Adam] crucified with Christ, and buried with Him. As a child of God, the new you has been raised with Christ, and ascended with Him. (Gal. 2:20; Rom. 6:6-10; Eph. 2:4-7)

3. Depend upon Christ's resurrection life to "put to death" the actions of the body which would express the desires of the flesh. (Rom. 5:10; 8:13)

4. Walk in the Spirit; yield to His power and control (Gal. 5:16; Eph. 5:18)

We can't get rid of the "skunk" of the flesh until we see the Lord; it's a temporary, stinkin' visitor until we get our glorified, spirit-oriented body (1 Cor 15:44-57). But we are called and equipped to not spread that fleshly "smell" with carnal attitudes, words, or behavior. Under the rule of grace we have a higher calling--to walk in the Spirit! "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place" (2 Cor. 2:14).

Our Father, we confess that in our flesh nothing good dwells. We now look unto Jesus and depend fully upon His resurrection life in us. Amen.

______________________________________________

Notes: This article is revised from "Extra Skunks," GN May 10, 1999.

[1] I assume the skunk's odor-spraying capacity is a result of the curse placed on the earth after the fall in Genesis 3...

[2] Thayer's Lexicon: Flesh = Gk. "sarx." It is used 1) flesh (the soft substance of the living body, which covers the bones...), 2) the body..., 3) a living creature (because possessed of a body of flesh)..., 4) the flesh, denotes mere human nature, the earthly nature of man apart from divine influence, and therefore prone to sin and opposed to God. [This article is dealing with usage # 4. See Grace notebook.com "Definitions." Rather than using the term "nature" in the believer, it seems more accurate to refer to flesh, ethically, as a sin-stained and sin-trained inward tendency that is IN the child of God, but does not denote his new spiritual nature. See. GraceNotebook/ Clarifications/ "Does the Believer Have a Sinful Nature?"]

[3] Charles Solomon, Handbook to Happiness (Tyndale), p.84.

[4] Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man, vol. 1 (Christian Fellowship Publishers, 1977 edition), p.102,103

For related studies see GNs "Jekyll or Hyde?," "Maladjusted Flesh," "Well Adjusted Flesh," Passing the Tests of Temptation, and David Tryon's "But How?" at http://www.GraceNotebook.com/ Grace Notes / Search

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